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Lord Acton and his Circle been made to explain the psychology of its attitude towards authority by the statement that Mr Richard Simpson took up the post of editor very shortly after his conversion to the Catholic faith in 1845. Such misapprehensions may easily lead to an entire misunderstanding of the inner history of English Catholicity of the last century in its most critical period. It will be useful therefore first to state the facts.

The Rambler was first started as a weekly journal in January, 1848, by John Moore Capes, who was its proprietor for the first ten years of its existence. During most of that time he was its editor and contributed extensively to its pages. It is only just to the memory of this distinguished convert that his connexion with the magazine should be recorded at some length, as his part in the undertaking seems to have been strangely overlooked. Mr Capes was born in 1812, and, having passed through Westminster School, he graduated at Balliol College, Oxford. In course of time he became incumbent of St John's, Bridgewater, where his close connexion with Dr Northcote, which subsequently continued in regard to the management of the Rambler, first began. Mr Capes was mainly xj